Erskine!

I've always been a big fan of drummer Peter Erskine and have found his teachings to be a wonderful resource over the course of my own career. When I first got started on the drums back in the early 90s (living in an urban centre with relatively few Jazz drumming resources!) an important teacher of mine gave me a copy of Erskine's "Everything is Timekeeping" video series and, in many ways, this set the tone for my approach to the drum set in the years to come.

Peter always manages to find the perfect balance between technique and concept in his explanations and writings and he always puts the utmost attention to playing the drums with the highest sense of musicality at all times. In this day and age of over-the-top, sensationalist drumming, whenever I see a video or article from Erskine, I take note and pay attention.

Here's a few great resources that have come across our desks over here at Four on the Floor lately:

- A lesson demonstrating some basic drum techniques (Peter always does a great job stressing and contextualizing his "back to basics" philosophy):



- Highlights from a drum clinic at the Donn Bennett Drum Studio:




- An important brush playing concept (Peter is a great brush player!):




- A wonderful and articulate interview with Peter from The Drummer's Resource Podcast:

http://www.drummersresource.com/peter-erskine-interview/


- Some important considerations or "rules" for drummers to take into account:

http://www.stevesuchdrums.com/rulesfordrummers/007-peter-erskine-rules-for-drummers


- Erskine on bass players (the drummer's best friend!):

http://www.bassplayer.com/artists/1171/give-the-drummer-some-peter-erskine/57339


- And finally, thanks to the kind people over at NYU Steinhardt, here is an in-depth conversation with Peter Erskine: